Refrigerating apparatus



' Filed Dec. 28, 1964 p 23, 1969 c. E. cum: 3,468,105

REFRIGERATING APPARATUS 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

Car) 6712M Sept. 23, 1969 c. E. CLINE REFRIGERATING APPARATUS 3 Sheets-Sheet 5.:

Filed Dec. 28, 1964 INVENTOR. ('ar/ 5 C I z'ne ms AI'TORNEY P 23, 1969 c. E. cum: 3,468,105

REFRIGERATING APPARATUS Filed Dec. 28, 1964 3Sheets-Sheet Z5 INVENTOR.

C021 it (Vine H16 ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,468,105 REFRIGERATING APPARATUS Carl E. Cline, Dayton, Ohio, assignor to General Motors Corporation, Detroit, Mich., a corporation of Delaware Filed Dec. 28, 1964, Ser. No. 421,527

Int. Cl. B01d 46/42 US. Cl. 55-269 2 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An air conditioner having an impervious inlet panel spaced therefrom and pivotally mounted along one edge thereof, a control mechanism mounted behind the panel, control knob rotatably mounted on the panel and detachably connected to said control mechanism.

This invention pertains to refrigerating apparatus and more particularly to window air conditioners.

In window air conditioners it is customary to draw air from the room in through a grille and filter extendin-g over a major portion of the front of the cabinet. Frequently this grille and filter are not cleaned regularly and smoke and air-borne dust gradually deposits on the grille and filter gradually resulting in an unsightly unattractive dirty appearance. The noise of the air rushing through such a grille, and filter and the evaporating coil and room air circulating fan is projected forwardly through the grille into the room. Both the dirty appearance and the noise are sufficiently objectionable to have an undesirable effect upon sales of window air conditioners.

It is an object of this invention to provide a window air conditioner which will maintain a clean, attractive appearance at all times and in which the filter is concealed but easily accessible for cleaning, removal and replacement.

It is another object of this invention to provide a window air conditioner which will maintain a clean attractive appearance at all times and in which the noise is trapped without substantially impeding the flow of air to and through the filter and without substantially interfering with the removability of the filter while the control remains conveniently accessible at all times.

It is another object of this invention to provide a window air conditioner in which there is provided a simple, inexpensive arrangement for removably supporting the filter, in front of the air inlet.

These and other objects are attained in the form shown in the drawings in which an impervious fold down front panel is provided in front of the air inlet with sufficient clearance at the bottom and sides 'to admit sufiicient air to the inlet. Behind the fold down front there are provided upper and lower sets of supporting clips for removably supporting the filter in front of the air inlet. Controls are placed in a readily accessible position behind the fold down front. However, if desired, the most frequently used control is provided with a resilient connection between the inner control knob and an outer control knob provided on the fold down front.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings wherein a preferred embodiment of the present invention is clearly shown.

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In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of a window air conditioner embodying my invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary transverse vertical sectional view through the front portion of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary enlarged view from the side of FIG. 2 showing the external control knob;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken along the line 44 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken along the line 5-5 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken alongthe line 6-6 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary horizontal sectional view taken along the line 77 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary transverse vertical sectional view similar to FIG. 2 with the front panel folded down and taken along the line 8-8 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of one of the upper holding clips for the removable filter; and

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of one of the lower holding clips for the removable filter.

Referring now to the drawings and more particularly to FIGS. 1 and 2, there is shown a window air conditioner 20 provided with an outer shell or sleeve 22 which is imperforate around the top, bottom and sides of the cabinet and which preferably has suitable rear louvered openings. This shell or sleeve 22 is preferably open at the front. Within the sleeve 22 there is provided a base 24 which is resiliently mounted on five coil springs 26. The base 24 supports the compressor, condenser, restrictor and evaporator of the refrigerant circuit as well as suitable room and outside air circulating fans. The construction of these parts may be similar to those of window air conditioners now being commercially manufactured. Also these parts may be generally like those illustrated in Patent No. 2,989,855 issued June 27, 1961, or in Patent No. 2,806,361 issued Sept. 17, 1957, or in Patent No. 2,945,362 issued July 19, 1960.

For the purpose of illustrating my invention, I have shown a lower room air inlet sleeve or duct cooling coil 28, and an upper room air outlet sleeve or duct 30 located above the inlet sleeve or duct 28. At one side of the sleeve or duct 28 is a control means 32 provided with an inner knob 34 on the front end of a control shaft 35 for turning on and off the refrigerating system and for turning on or off the fans and controlling their speeds. There is also provided a middle knob 36 for opening and closing the fresh air damper and a lower knob 38 which adjusts the thermostat for controlling the starting and stopping of the refrigerating system. These may be similar to those shown in Patent No. 2,987,984 issued June 13, 1961 or in Patent No. 2,904,972 issued Sept. 22, 1959.

Heretofore it has been customary to provide a perforated air inlet grille at the side of the control housing 32 extending over the major portion of the front of the air conditioner 20 beneath the outlet sleeve 30 as shown in Patent No. 2,989,855 issued June 27, 1961. Directly behind this perforated grille there was provided a removable filter. In the normal operation of the air conditioner, the air was drawn from the room in through the perforated grille and filter and through a cooling coil by the fan behind the coil prior to its discharge through the upper outlet sleeve or duct and outlet grille. Smoke and dust gradually accumulated on the grille and the filter. This dust and smoke soon brought an unsightly appearance to the front of the air conditioner. Therefore to prevent this, it is necessary to frequently clean the front and the filter so as to maintain a satisfactory appearance. In such an air conditioner it was customary to place the evaporating unit or cooling coil directly behind the filter and the fan behind the evaporating unit. With this arrangement the noise of the air passing through the filter and through the evaporator and the impingement of the air upon the blades of the fan was projected directly forwardly into the room. This problem become more acute as the air conditioner was made more compact.

According to my invention, I provide a removable filter 40 directly in front of the inlet sleeve or duct 28 as shown in FIG. 8 and the cooling coil. This removable filter 40 is a removably supported upon two or more spaced lower sheet metal clips 42 having an upper downwardly folded hook shaped portion 44 which is hooked over the front edge of the base 24 as shown in FIGS 2 and 8 and which has a lower upwardly folded hook 46 which hooks the lower edge of the filter 40. The upper downwardly folded hook 44 is provided with a barb 48 projecting inwardly so as to dig into the surface of the base 24 to prevent any unwanted removal of the clip 42. The clip 42 is preferably made of spring steel.

The upper edge of the filter 40 is preferably retained by two or more upper clips 50 having an upper downwardly folded hook 52 which hooks over the upwardly turned flange 54 at the front edge of the upper outlet sleeve or duct 30. The clip 50 has a downwardly and forwardly extending extension 54 which extends in front of the filter 40 so as to hold it in place and particularly to prevent the filter 40 from moving forwardly away from the inlet at the face of the sleeve coding coil 28. However, sufficient room is provided above the filter 40 inside the clip 50 to allow the lower edge of the filter 40 to be lifted oif the hooks 46 of the lower clips 42 and be readily removed in this simple manner for cleaning and replacement. The angular disposition of the extension 54 guides the upper edge of the filter 40 into proper position during the initial step of replacement of its replacement. The second step is to place the lower edge upon lower hooks 46 of the upper clips 42.

In front of the sleeve 22, the base pan 24, the inlet 28 and the outlet 30, is a generally rectangular frame 60 which supports an outlet grille 62 detachably connected to the air outlet sleeve or duct 30. According to my invention, there is provided directly in front of the filter 40 and the air inlet sleeve or duct 28 an imperforate decorative panel 64 which is pivoted adjacent its lower edge upon the pivot pins 66 to a pair of forwardly protruding brackets 68 which are fastened to the side walls of the frame 60. Surrounding the pivot pin 66 is a conventional torsion spring 70 which has one end bearing against the hinge bracket 72 of the panel 64 and which has its other end connected to the bracket 68. This torsion spring 70 normally holds the panel 64- up against the cross bar 74 as shown in FIG. 2. However the panel is readily folded downwardly as illustrated in FIG. 8 for access to the filter 40 and particularly for removal and replacement of the filter 40.

The panel 64 is spaced inwardly from the sides of the frame 60 and is spaced forwardly from the filter 40 and the control means 32 a sulficient distance for ample air flow therebetween to the filter '40. At the bottom there is provided a wide air entrance 76 between the lower edge of the panel 64 and a decorative lower cross bar 78 which is positioned at an angle so as to conceal the bottom of the chassis and the bottom air entrance 80. The bottom air entrance 80 is located between the lower cross bar 78 and the rear cross bar 82 located beneath the brackets 68. The spaces on the opposite sides of the lower decorative cross bar 78 provide sufiicient cross sectional area for air flow upwardly into the space be tween the panel 64 and the filter 40 to provide for the ample flow of air to the filter 40 without any substantial restriction.

Since the panel 64 is impervious, it will not collect any substantial amount of dust or smoke and can be readily cleaned at all times. Obviously it will not collect smoke and dust in the same measure as the filter 40 through which the air from the room is circulated forcibly during the entire operation of the air conditioner. The panel 64 also is located so as to present an obstruction or sound absorber to any sound waves which may originate within or behind the sleeve 28 from the flow of air through the evaporator coil or from the impingement of the blades of the fan with the air. Also it obstructs any noise created by the flow of air through the filter 40. The panel 64 is readily folded down to a horizontal position for complete and easy access to the filter 40 and the control knobs 34, 36, 38 at 2. time.

As an additional alternate teat me of my invention, I provide an exposed upper 1 y control knob 84 which is rotatably mounted in an escutcheon plate 86 fastened by nuts 88 or other suitable fastening means to the panel 64 directly in alignment with the knob 34. The panel 64 may have an aperture cut therein for the reception of the escutchec-n plate '86. The knob 84 is rotatably mounted in the e utcheon plate 86 and is connected by a pin 90 and a a 92 with a pin 94 connecting with a conically shaped detachable coupling 96 which when the panel 64 is in the vertical position shown in FIG. 2 is clutched to the knob 34. As shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, the detachable coupling 96 is provided with a groove or keyway 121 which receives a key 123 for accomplishing the rotational coupling. The coupling 96 is also provided with a notch 127 receiving a projecting key or projection 129 upon the knob 34. Otherwise the rear face of the coupling 96 is conical in shape and is received within a conical recess 131 in front face of the knob 34. The link 92 is surrounded by a small large diameter compression type coil spring 133 having its forward end resting againsta washer 135 bearing against the rear of the knob 84 and having its rear end resting against a shoulder upon the coupling 96. The spring 133 tends to resiliently center the coupling 96 so that it will always be in the approximately aligned position with the knob 34 Whenever the panel 64 is folded up to the vertical position shown in FIG. 2. The rotation of the knob 84 will allow the coupling 96 to slip into coupling engagement with the kndo '34. The knob 84 may be of any desired configuration but as shown, it is provided with an indicator 137 which cooperates with the legends Oif, Fan, Maximum Cool and Normal Cool upon the escutcheon plate 86 to make any corresponding adjustment of the knob 34. However, this additional feature is not necessary and may be omitted to reduce the cost of the conditioner, since the knobs are so readily accessible by folding down the panel 64.

What is claimed is as follows:

1. An air conditioner including a frame and an air inlet means having a filter thereacross at the front of said conditioner and a normally upright substantially impervious movable panel normally mounted in front of and spaced from said air inlet means a sufiicient distance for .ample air flow to said air inlet means, said panel being provided adjacent an edge with a pivotal mounting connected to said frame for pivotal movement away from said normal upright position and said air inlet means, said air conditioner being provided with a control device having a rotatable adjusting means provided with a manipulating knob located behind said panel and uncovered for manually operating said knob upon pivotal uncovering movement of said panel away from said inlet means, wherein the improvement comprises exposed rotary manual manipulating means rotatably mounted on said panel and accessible for manipulation and visible from the front of said panel, said rotary manipulating means being provided with indicator means for indicating its control position, a detachable coupling provided with means for rotationally coupling to said manipulating knob behind said panel in the normal upright position of said panel, for operating and indicating the position of said manipulating knob is covered by said panel, and operative connecting means-connecting said detachable coupling to said rotary manual manipulating means, said detachable coupling being detachable from said manipulating knob upon movement of said movable panel away from its normal upright position in front of said inlet means, said connecting means including spring means extending between said rotary manual manipulating means and said detachable coupling for maintaining substantial coaxial alignment between said rotary manual manipulating means and said detachable coupling for substantially aligning said detachable coupling and said manipulating knob in the normal upright position of said panel.

2. An air conditioner "including a frame and an air inlet means having a filter thereacross at the front of said conditioner and a normally upright substantially impervious movable panel normally mounted in front of but spaced from said inlet'means a sufficient distance for ample air flow to said air inlet means, said panel being provided adjacent an edge portion with a pivotal mounting connected to said frame for pivotal movement away from said normal upright position and said inlet means, said air conditioner being provided with a control device having a rotatable adjusting means provided with a manipulating knob located behind said panel and uncovered for manual operation of said manipulating knob upon the pivoting of said panel away from its normal position in front of said inlet means, wherein the invention comprises an exposed rotary manual manipulating means rotatably mounted on said panel accessible from the front of said panel, a detachable coupling provided with means for rotationally coupling to said manipulating knob for operating said manipulating knob, link means operably connecting said rotary manual manipulating means and said detachable coupling, and a coaxial compression type centering coil spring extending between said rotary manual manipulating means and said detachable coupling for maintaining substantial coaxial alignment between said rotary manual manipulating means and said detachable coupling for substantially aligning said detachable coupling and said manipulating knob in the normal upright position of said panel.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,771,173 7/1930 Greene.

2,660,866 12/ 1953 Tipton et al 62427 X 2,763,139 9/1956 Callan et al 623 17 2,789,175 4/1957 Mahr 20081.9 2,813,406 11/1957 Smith 62285 2,945,360 7/1960 Tyler 62285 X 2,089,407 8/1937 Norris 268 X 2,130,327 9/1938 Galson 11268 X 2,270,395 1/ 1942 Tjernlund 55--267 X 2,312,243 2/ 1943 Evans et al ZOO-61.76 X 2,528,786 11/1950 Roberts 21-61 2,702,459 2/1955 Thompson 55-481 X 2,711,087 9/ 1955 Jennings 62262 2,730,873 1/1956 Hardin et a1. 62429 X 2,826,048 3/ 1958 Wheeler 62262 2,904,972 9/1959 Smilack --269 2,934,324 4/ 1960 Partington 62--263 3,035,422 5/ 1962 Halbeinsen 62262 X 3,112,623 12/ 1963 Crossman 62296 X 3,158,702 11/1964 Vanderbilt 200--51 3,165,053 1/1965 Christie 62262 X 3,226,500 12/1965 Kussy et a1. 20050 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,362,186 4/1964 France.

252,292 6/ 1964 Australia.

OTHER REFERENCES Coldspot Air Conditioner Owners Manual and Installation Instructions, Sears, Roebuck and ,Company, USA, part No. 4711957. Received in Patent Office August 1963, pages 4, 9, and 13 (Copy in Group 177).

HARRY B. THORNTON, Primary Examiner DENNIS E. TALBERT, JR., Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 24 3; 49-386; ss 47s, 509, 385; 62262; zoo-so 

